Patch 4.1 Reflections and Call to Arms

It looks like Patch 4.1 is well on it's way for release, and possibly as soon as Tuesday. Personally, I look forward to many of the changes and tweaks to certain classes/specs as well as the "new" (rehashed) content. The introduction of the two new versions of Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman allows a greater accessibility for gearing up your toons for raiding, as well as the opportunity to actually reasonably posses maelstrom crystals. In all honesty, I'm most excited for getting solid gear for my warlock, since I rarely get a chance to run a raid with her.

I know the blogosphere has discussed the new Call to Arms feature in great length and there are many opinions on the matter, but I figured I'd also give my 2c. To be honest, this whole Call to Arms thing doesn't really affect my main in the least. I don't run random pugs, plain and simple. Players that are in solid raiding guilds tend to not need to run those dungeons at this point in the game. Furthermore, when I did run those dungeons I went in a guild group (and I typically tanked). This change has no appreciable effect on me.

Now a good question perhaps is whether or not I'd do a random for fun rather than the rewards? Yes and no. Yes--but only if it's a guild group. No--because the pugging environment makes what little reward I would receive not worth it. I stopped tanking randoms because of really bad groups and the hostile environment in which they create. I will only heal a random if and only if the tank is a guildie. As a dps, I absolutely will not wait up to an hour for a group that is downright miserable. I finally drew the line the other night on my lock. Yes, I really could use the valor points on that toon, but it's not worth it. Arrogant tanks that are very piss-poor at tanking as well as bad dps (and by bad I mean, "stands in fire" bad or "let's pull the whole room when the healer has no mana" bad) that make every pull excruciating made pugging simply not worth the time or the effort.

Now what concerns me is that there are competent players who absolutely will not pug., and those really interested in the CtA rewards might not be those best suited for the job. There is not a shortage of tanks/healers. There is, however, a shortage of tanks/healers that are willing to pug. Or more specifically--competent tanks/healers. Unfortunately, the Call to Arms feature will only reward a tank/healer (let's face it, dps is never going to be scare) if and only if they pugged completely by themselves and finish the instance by killing the final boss. Fortunately, the items are BoA and you could potentially get a rare mount out of it. Although it may be tempting for me to step into hostile territory and pug tank again, but I'm sorry Blizz, I'm going to have to pass. What you are offering as rewards aren't nearly enough for me to even want to consider pugging as a tank or healer. Getting a new shiny mount for my alts might be nice motivation, but tbh, I'd rather just grind/farm. It's less frustrating.

Open recruiting

Ysera-US is now recruiting heals and dps. We are a 4 year old progression raiding guild currently 4/4 BoT, 5/6 BWD, and 1/2 ToFW, and we are looking for solid raiders for 25s. We are one of the few Alliance-side 25-man guilds on Ysera. Raids are Monday/Wed/Thurs @ 7:30 server and Sunday @ 6:30 server. For more information and to apply, go to prime.guildlaunch.com.

Nerd Rage

So I've been playing this game for about 5ish years now and besides the usual things that bug me, there is one thing that really has gotten on my nerves as of late: social elitism. Here's what I mean, the WoW purist that refuses to do anything at all because it's "soooo cliché". Okay, I can understand not wanting to participate in certain endeavors on Azeroth because they're simply overdone, but lately I've noticed that the vitriol that has spilled from the mouths of babes has finally gotten on my last nerve.

In the immortal words of Dennis Miller, "I don't want to get off on a rant here, but...". Class elitism, gaming elitism, and social elitism all seem to stem from the roots of "I'm better than you are because I'm so off the beaten path" asshattery mentality. Oh, I'm going to play LotRO because everyone plays WoW and it's so overdone. Oh I'm not going to roll a death knight because you didn't really earn that character and it's sooo passé. Ugh, rolling a worgen is sooo flavor of the month and I'm sooo over dwarf shaman.

Oh yea? You know what I'm sooooo over? This incessant bitching and whining. Yea so people are race-changing to dwarf shaman. It adds a new flavor and variety of shaman in the Alliance. We've never had that before, the only choice was Dranei. Yea so people are down with Gilneas and are playing as worgen. Big deal. You know why they're all doing it en masse? Because it's still brand freaking new. Now the part that bothers me the most is the fact that people are turning their noses at other people's decisions for race choice/aesthetics based upon some sort of pseudo-elitism that their decision to not try anything different makes them so much more superior. I hate to break it to everyone, but really, who are we to tell anyone how they should or shouldn't spend their hard earned money and time in the game? The last time I checked, I'm not paying for Bobby Sue's account. I'm paying for mine. And to be quite honest, as long as Bobby Sue (now WorgenSue or DwarfShazammy) is still a solid player, I don't give a flying fuck.

/end rant.

Rules for a Fury Warrior to live (or die) by

So the other day I was running around Stormwind minding my own business when a group of guildies give me (arguably) the best compliment I've received since joining, "Lokes, you are by FAR one of the best fury warriors out there." Well, thank you. :-) Now that's something that I don't exactly hear every day, and I had to know why. Long story short--"you know how to play your class".

Really?


I hit things with two very large objects. In the case illustrated above, a tree and a bear. Is there really more to fury than that? Oh yea...besides making this look good, there's much more than it seems in being a successful fury warrior.

So apparently many fury warriors don't quite understand the basics of playing this spec beyond bringing the Rampage buff into the group and hitting things repeatedly. I personally believe that many of these mistakes stem from a lack of knowledge or understanding from certain game mechanics. To summarize, here is a nice set of rules that one must follow as a fury warrior:

1. Don't stand in front of the boss/mob. Are you the tank? NO. Not only will your dps be substantially better, you'll also do your healers a favor by not having to heal you as much as the tank. A happy healer is an effective healer. An unhappy healer = dead fury warrior.
2. Understand your stat priorities. There are many excellent resources out there that have this information available. Having a full knowledge and understanding of what makes a fury warrior allows you to hit things. Hard. Repeatedly. Which brings me to my next point...
3. Don't roll on gear unless you can actually use it. Yea, that epic BP has more strength on it than the one you currently have equipped, but fury doesn't use dodge or parry...ever.
4. Be proactive and smart about playing. Yea we don't "use intellect" and are the "rawr smash" spec, but there's much more to it. Understanding certain game mechanics and utilizing your abilities to counter said mechanics makes you that much better of a player. For example: if it has a cast bar, interrupt it; if it's going really fast and chasing you, run away and throw Piercing Howl; if it's eating the tank alive on damage, throw Demoralizing Shout, etc...Also, if you're surrounded by Horde in WSG and you're the FC in flag room, and they're blocking your path to the cap point, for the love of everything that is holy--Heroic Leap into base and cap! Not that I speak from experience... XD
5. Always interrupt whenever possible. I can't stress that enough. If it has a cast bar, use Pummel. Oh, and spec into Rude Interruption if you haven't done so already.
6. Don't AOE unless absolutely necessary. That sheep is there for a reason, don't Whirlwind near it.
7. Attack what the tank is attacking. This way you don't pull aggro on a mob that barely has the tank's attention and get roflpwnd.
8. Don't pull aggro. We don't have terribly many aggro dumps. Let the tank grab initial aggro and then go wild. But if you're doing more dps than the tank can hold aggro, back off. Stop hitting the mob. Seriously. Stop.
9. Avoid fire at all costs. This goes for anything that hurts--fire, void zones, pools of poison and crud, etc... Just don't stand in it. If you're not sure if you're not supposed to stand it look at your health. Is it plummeting? Do you have a debuff? If the answer is "yes" to either. Don't stand in it.
10. Pay attention. A lot of damage is avoidable. Knowing how to position yourself and having good situational awareness will keep you alive throughout the encounter. Is there a fire-breathing dragon? Stand behind it. Are their fireballs falling to the ground? Don't stand in them. Are their mobs that do AOE damage when they die? Don't be there.
11. Have fun. This is most important. Don't expect to be super-pro-leet-w/e fury warrior all the time or immediately. We all have bad days, we all make mistakes, and it takes time and experience to be really good at this game (or anything for that matter). If it's no longer fun, you're doing it wrong.